Page 53 of Guarding My Love

“It’s a lot for you to get here unless we send the helicopter to you. Which we have no problem doing it if you want to.”

Charlotte was shaking her head even though she knew Amanda couldn’t see it. Drew’s first cousin owned a charter service on the island and the family utilized that mode of transportation a lot.

She’d had her fill of men with money. Though she loved Drew and he didn’t flaunt what he had, it still made her uncomfortable.

Wealth always did. She wasn’t with older men for their money but for their maturity.

How well that backfired.

“It’s all good,” she said. “I’ll try to visit again around July Fourth. That’s a long holiday weekend and the baby will be older for me to play with.”

“Less than two months isn’t much to play with still,” Amanda said. “But I understand what you’re saying. They are so little at this age.”

“I was afraid I was going to break her even though I was used to it with Liam.”

“When it’s your own you feel differently,” Amanda said. “So, fill me in. Anything to report with Foster?”

“So that is why you called me,” she said. “How much time do you have?”

“As much time as you need me to have,” Amanda said. “Harper is a good napper already. I’m sure she’ll be out for two hours and I’ve got my feet up on the deck looking out over the water while I sit in the shade.”

“So jealous,” she said. “That sounds like the perfect way to recover.”

“It is,” Amanda said. “So fill me in.”

“Well,” she said. “I worked myself up waiting for him to come home on Tuesday. I thought about what you said and realized that maybe he was waiting for me to make the next move. Then I got mad at myself for putting so much energy into planning it out. I used to do that all the time and said no more.”

“Good for you,” Amanda said. “I’m going to assume you talked to him?”

“I did. I went to let Marco out and he pulled the leash out of my hand and took off toward Foster’s house after he’d gotten home. I gave chase, but there was no catching him. I only looked like a fool. Having flip-flops on wasn’t the best footwear to be running in.”

Amanda started to laugh. “You’re lucky you didn’t trip and break something.”

“That’s the mother in you,” she said. “But it was a close call a few times. I get to Foster’s and there is my dog sitting on the front step with the homeowner, both looking at me as if I was a crazy woman.”

“So much for planning things out,” Amanda said.

“Exactly. I also realized that I like how spontaneous everything is with us. Or somewhat. This was just one more of those instances. And the first thing he did was apologize for kissing me.”

“Which would have ticked you off.”

“It did,” she said. “Next thing I know, we are kissing again and I tell him to take me to his room.”

“Wow,” Amanda said. “Did he?”

“He did,” she said, smiling and fanning her face. It still made her hot thinking about it. “It was fabulous and so uncontrolled. I mean I was out of control of anything I was feeling, but I’m positive he knew what he was doing. When we were done we talked some.”

“Did it ruin the mood of what had happened?” Amanda asked. “You said he doesn’t talk much.”

“I thought it might, but it didn’t. I wanted to know what we had. That I didn’t normally sleep with men that I only knew their first name.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he didn’t know what we had and wasn’t sure we had to put a name on it. He did offer that his parents named him after a fallen soldier who was his father’s best friend. That his mother liked different names or surnames. Foster Mitchell. So I know his name.”

“Did you search him?” Amanda asked.

“No. I don’t want to. He’s not the type to be on social media and that is where I would do something like that.”

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